


Long Way Home

by costumejail



Category: Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys - My Chemical Romance (Album), Planes Trains and Automobiles (1987), The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys: California (Comics)
Genre: (but in a good way), Additional Warnings In Author's Note, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Chance Meetings, Crossovers & Fandom Fusions, Getting to Know Each Other, Implied Sexual Content, M/M, Minor Character Death, Nonbinary Characters Are Mentioned, Road Trips, THERE WAS ONLY ONE BED, Trans Character, Trans Kobra Kid (Danger Days), if its cheesy and bad thats because the movie is cheesy and bad, there arent many other warnings, um <3 this is a weird one i know
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-17
Updated: 2020-12-27
Packaged: 2021-03-10 22:42:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 12,796
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28134861
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/costumejail/pseuds/costumejail
Summary: When the Kobra Kid booked time off work for a holiday, he wasn't bargaining on having the adventure of a lifetime.
Relationships: Agent Cherri Cola/Kobra Kid (Danger Days), Kobra Kid & Party Poison (Danger Days)
Comments: 161
Kudos: 27





	1. Chapter 1

After what felt like days, the meeting ended.

“Well, gents. I guess we’ll reconvene Wednesday to discuss the—”

“I won’t be in on Wednesday, I have to be in Battery City for a—”

“We know, Mr. Kid. We’ll be in touch about an alternate arrangement given that you evidently can’t prioritize—”

“I _have_ ,” Kobra gritted his teeth and tried to smile politely. He knew he failed miserably. “To be in Battery City.”

“As I said, we’ll arrange an alternative. Perhaps you should be taken off of this project? If your personal schedule is causing this much conflict.”

Counting to seventeen in his head, Kobra faced his team leader head-on.

“I would prefer not to be removed from the Android project, Mr. Korse.”

Korse flashed his own skeletal grin at Kobra. “Then I suppose I’ll see you Wednesday.”

The room was empty by now, the other company drones having filed out of the conference room. Kobra was quick to follow, he had no desire to stay in that room any longer.

Besides, he had a flight to catch.

On the street, the sidewalks were crowded. People bundled into brightly-coloured jackets, hats, and scarves pushed past Kobra, nearly toppling him into a particularly dirty-looking pile of snow as he tried to hail a cab.

“Taxi! Taxi!”

None stopped.

Kobra stuck his hand up, waving at a cab as it flashed by, and barely making eye contact with the driver. The cab pulled over a few yards up the road from Kobra and he cheered under his breath as he jogged towards it.

Just as he reached the cab, he almost had his hand on the handle of the door, a white-jacketed teenager slipped under his arm and into the backseat.

“Thanks, Mister!” They flashed him an impish grin and slammed the door.

Kobra raised his middle finger at the back of the cab as it pulled away from the curb. He needed a smoke. Instead, he shook his head, tamping down his rising anger and hailed another cab.

Within a minute, another one came to a stop in front of him, but again, as he reached for the door handle, someone else tried to duck under his arm.

“Not a chance, you prick.” Kobra grabbed the businessman’s arm and dragged him away from the vehicle. “This is my cab.”

“I need it,” scoffed the man. “I have a meeting that I can’t miss. You can wait, can’t you?”

“No, I very well can’t. I’ve already lost a cab to some snot-nosed kid and you aren’t getting this one out from under me either.”

“Well,” the man leaned closer, a snarl twisting his features. “What’s it worth to you?”

Kobra’s head spun as he pulled back. “You want me to pay you? For a cab that I hailed?”

Nodding, the man stuck out his hand.

Kobra blinked. He shook his head. He thought about how badly he needed to catch this flight. He pulled out his wallet.

“Ten carbons enough?”

“Are you high? Fifty.”

“Fifty? For a damn— Thirty.”

“Forty.”

“Thirty.”

“I’ll just get in and drive off.”

“Fine, forty.” Kobra pulled the carbons from his wallet and handed them to the man.

“Pleasure doing business with—”

Kobra wasn’t listening. He turned to the cab, ready to open the door and climb in. But the cab pulled away as soon as he brushed the handle and he watched the man in the backseat — some dirty-looking hippy with a blue streak in his hair — turn, eyes widening as Kobra’s cab drove off.

“Shit.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit of mild transphobia (implied harassment and one line of misgendering) in this chapter.

Kobra made it to the airport just in time for his flight. He checked in in a rush, thanking the Witch that he didn’t need to check any bags, and scrambled through security. It was a good thing he’d had to take out most of his piercings for the meeting, else the metal detectors would have gone off and he would have gotten pulled into a little room to the side and harassed about why he had so much metal on his person, why he had a prosthetic in his pants, why the name on his driver’s license was so apparently unpronounceable, whatever. He made it through security quickly for once and practically ran to the gate, briefcase swinging wildly. When he got there though, he was faced with a sign cheerfully informing him that his flight had been “Delayed due to weather!”

He dropped into a seat with a sigh and a muttered curse and pulled his phone out. A few button-presses later it was ringing.

“Pois?”

“Hey, Kobes! What’s up? Shouldn’t you be boarding by now?”

“Delayed,” Kobra rubbed his forehead. “Just an hour, though. I should land at ten.”

“Okay,” Kobra’s sibling didn’t sound too sure. “Well, call me if anything changes. We can’t wait to see you!”

“Sure.”

“See you soon! Love you!”

“Love you too,” Kobra hung up and tipped his head back. He closed his eyes against the fluorescents, idly wishing he’d thought to eat before leaving the meeting. There had been a plate of free goodies  _ right there _ on the table and he knew how airline food always made his stomach upset. Whatever, too late now.

“Family troubles?”

Kobra cracked an eye open. “Excuse me?”

An almost-familiar face smiled at him nervously, “Couldn’t help overhearing. The delay gonna cause a problem for you, too?”

“Do I know you?”

“No, sorry,” The man stuck a hand out and Kobra shook it. “Cherri Cola, I’m going to Batt City, too.”

As Kobra let go of the man’s hand, he suddenly realized why his face was so familiar.

“You stole my cab!”

“I— What? Sorry, I don’t know what you’re talking— I stole—?"

"Yeah! On Union Street at five-thirty? I had my hand literally on the door handle and you drove off with my cab."

"Oh! I didn't realize— I'm sorry. Do you want me to—?"

"No," Kobra sighed. “It's fine. Just— Whatever."

"No, seriously! If I'd known I would've— I don't know, actually. I really needed to make the flight. I thought I was gonna be late! I guess I wasn’t going to be, but I didn't know it'd be delayed! Um... Do you want me to buy you a coffee, or something? To make it up to you?"

"No," Kobra pulled his headphones out of his pocket and began to detangle them. "That’s fine. No harm done, I guess."

He plugged his headphones in and turned his music on, loud enough that he was sure the long-haired man next to him could hear it. Not that he cared.

He closed his eyes and waited for the boarding announcement.

* * *

"Flight 371 to Battery City is now boarding Zones One and Two. Please line up only if your boarding pass is for..."

Kobra opened his eyes. He stood up and pulled his boarding pass from his pocket. The blue haired-man next to him, Cherri Cola, waved as Kobra lined up. He didn’t return the gesture. When he got to the front of the line, Kobra passed the attendant his boarding pass and driver’s license with a mostly-polite smile.

“Sorry, Ma’am, at this time we have asked for only Zones One and Two to board.”

“It’s Mr., actually— Wait,” Kobra was halfway through the correction before he realized the bigger issue. “What do you mean only Zones One and Two? Am I not-?”

“This says Zone Six, Sir.” The attendant pointed to the pass where, true to her word, the ticket clearly read ‘Zone 6’.”If you could step to the side, please.”

Her smile wavered slightly as Kobra glared her down.

“I paid for a first-class ticket, I should be boarding in Zone One.”

“Unfortunately, this seat is in our economy class. You’ll be boarding with the rest of the passengers in Zone Six. Now if you’d please step aside.”

“No, I paid for a first-class ticket, I’m going to sit in the seat that I paid for!” Kobra barely kept himself from yelling the last words.

Finally, the attendant’s smile vanished. “I’m going to have to ask you once more to step aside, or I’ll have to have you escorted from the gate.”

Taken aback, Kobra stepped to the side, ignoring the sidelong glances from the other passengers as they boarded the plane. As soon as the attendant called for Zone Six, he stepped back into the line. She let him on the plane with an icy smile and an, “Enjoy your flight” that sounded more like she was telling him to drop dead.

Kobra settled himself into the seat quickly, a window seat. His least favourite. He didn’t plan on doing much for the flight, anyway. His sibling had recommended a book and sent him a .pdf for it which was illegal, yes, but they’d never cared about such a thing and it didn’t seem like it would be an interesting enough book for Kobra to warrant spending money on. He pulled the document up on his phone and started reading as the last passengers boarded.

“Excuse me, sorry, coming through!”

A body dropped into the seat next to Kobra, sitting half on his armrest before sliding into the seat properly.

“Oh! We meet again!”

Kobra pulled an earbud out and saw the now-familiar face of Cherri Cola smiling eagerly at him.

“Oh, hi.” Kobra tucked the headphone back into his ear, hoping that the man would get the message and leave him alone.

“Imagine that! That’s three times we’ve met just today! I don’t think I caught your name at the gate?” Cherri smiled again, he did that a lot.

“Kobra.” Kobra didn’t shake Cherri’s hand again, but Cherri didn’t seem to notice.

“Nice to meet you, Kobra! So, you’re going to Battery City?”

“That’s where the plane’s going,” Kobra snarked.

His tone didn’t affect the smile firmly fixed on Cherri’s features.

“Of course! But you aren’t going anywhere else? Sorry if I’m bothering you, I just always like to know the people I’m sitting with!”

Resigning himself to the other passenger’s inane chatter, Kobra put his phone down.

“No, I’m staying in the City.”

“Me too! It’s my sister’s anniversary!”

“Great.”

“Are you just visiting or do you live there or,” Cherri raised his eyebrows twice. “Are you seeing a special someone?”

“Setsubun.”

“Oh! Mazel tov!” Cherri paused. “Uh, what is that?”

Kobra didn’t really want to explain it, but he got the feeling that Cherri wouldn’t leave him alone without some kind of elaboration. He settled for grunting “Holiday,” and hoping Cherri would leave it alone.

Of course, Cherri opened his mouth to say something else but was cut off by the flight attendant starting their safety demonstration. Kobra closed his eyes, thinking maybe he could catch a bit of sleep during the flight. It seemed nothing else would keep Cherri from talking his ear off.

He was asleep before the wheels left the ground.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This disclaimer starts now and runs to the end of the fic but: The holiday Kobra's celebrating, Setsubun, is a Japanese festival. I did my best to research but I'm not Japanese (Kobra and Pois are) so if I messed anything up or portrayed it wrong don't be afraid to tell me!


	3. Chapter 3

Kobra woke up to concerned chatter and Cherri nudging his shoulder rapidly. He blinked once to clear his eyes, then his brain caught up to his ears and he heard what Cherri was excitedly whispering.

“... Bomb threat at BCX! We’re getting redirected to Texas! That’s so exciting, I’ve never been anywhere that wasn’t attached to the ocean. Have you?”

“We aren’t... Going to Battery City?”

“No?” Cherri’s smile faltered a touch. “They’re directing all flights away until they find the bomb. If there is one. Oh, I hope there isn’t, that would—”

“Shut up. When are we supposed to land?”

“Well, I think it’s about a half-hour past the City? So ten-thirty? Is something wrong?”

Kobra felt a chill creep up his legs. Texas. No flights to Battery City. Party was going to be so upset. His breathing started to come faster, this was the third year in a row that he'd promised to make it to the city for Setsubun and he wasn’t going to make it. Again. After he'd promised Party. Shit.

_Shit._

"Kobra? Uh, Kobra? Are you okay?"

Cherri's voice filtered into Kobra's mind and he blinked, unclenching his hands where they'd been gripping his thighs.

"What?" Snapped Kobra.

"You okay? You look a little-"

"Piss off."

Kobra pushed his headphones back into his ears and turned away from Cherri. He closed his eyes, pretending to sleep.

He barely heard Cherri sigh and settle back in his seat.

* * *

Kobra hadn't planned on sleeping, but he snapped awake when Cherri nudged him again.

"We landed."

Kobra grunted a reply and cracked his neck to one side, then the other. He didn't even want to think about how stiff his legs were going to be after three hours in the cramped airplane seat.

Getting off of the plane was thankfully easy, as soon as Kobra was in the gate he paced away to a quiet(er) spot in the airport to call Party.

"Hey, Pois."

"Kobes! I'm at the airport, where are you? There’s all these firefighters here, are you okay?"

Kobra pinched the bridge of his nose. "I’m fine. I'm... in El Paso."

"El P— Kobes? What happened?"

"Bomb threat at BCX. They redirected our flight."

"Oh... Shit."

That about summed it up.

"Yeah."

"So are they getting you a new flight?"

"I don't know," Kobra looked back at the gate where a harried-looking attendant was fielding an increasingly-angry-looking crowd of people that had been on Kobra's flight. "I doubt it."

"Shit. Jet's—"

"Yeah. I know. Witch. I'll... See what they can do. I’ll let you know, okay?"

"Okay. Let me know if you need any help. I love you."

Kobra hung up. He leaned his forehead against the airport wall, not thinking about when the last time it had been cleaned probably was and sighed.

"Hey, stranger!"

A groan slipped through Kobra's lips, he turned to see Cherri Cola, smiling at him nervously.

"What."

"Well, I thought I'd check in with you, you missed the announcement but there’s still no flights to Batt City so..."

"So what?"

"Well... There's no rental cars either."

"Okay. The hell do you want me to do about it?"

"Just thought I'd see if you needed any help finding a place to stay? I've got some connections and hotels are filling up fast. Some kind of local festival apparently."

"Okay."

"Well... I've got a friend coming to pick me up and he’s gonna drop me off at a motel for the night, might be some flights in the morning. I wanted to see if you wanted a lift! Or if you've got somewhere else to stay that's fine too! But cabs from the airport are expensive so if you wanted to share I'm sure Doc wouldn’t mind!"

Kobra stared. This... stranger was offering a ride from the airport. He didn't even know Kobra.

"Uh. Sure. I guess that's okay."

“Okay, awesome! He's almost here now! Do you have any bags?"

Kobra waved his briefcase and Cherri's eyes widened in shock.

"Oh! Uh, good! I might need some help with my luggage."

"Sure. Lead the way."

* * *

The trunk stared at Kobra. It was, without a doubt, the largest airline baggage he'd ever seen. It looked like it could fit a person in it.

"This is yours?"

"Yeah," awkwardly, Cherri laughed. "I never learned to pack light."

A sigh escaped Kobra, "Right."

Together, they hefted the trunk from the luggage belt and carried it towards the door. As soon as they stepped out into the pickup zone, a truck honked. Cherri swung his head around, breaking into a grin when he caught sight of the beaten-down looking pickup.

"That's Doc. Let's go!"

Half-dragged by Cherri, Kobra followed him to the truck. They lifted the trunk into the bed of the truck and then Cherri turned to Kobra.

"There's only three seats, so uh... Do you want the middle or the passenger seat?"

"Are you f—? Okay. Passenger."

"Shiny!"

Cherri let himself into the truck, crawling into the middle seat and enthusiastically greeting a long-haired man with a beard and a deep, somewhat gravelly voice.

"D, this is Kobra. He's hitching a ride to the motel, too."

"Sounds good, tumbleweed."

"Thanks for picking us up." Kobra might not have been overly pleased about the situation but he was polite enough to know when to thank the person that picked him up from the El Paso airport with minimal notice.

"'F course. You two know each other?"

"N—"

"Yeah! We met on the plane."

‘Doc’ nodded easily, started the truck, and pulled out of the parking spot he'd found. It was a relatively short drive from the airport to the motel. Barely long enough for Kobra to start noticing exactly how filthy and packed full of stuff the cab was.

"Thanks, Doc!" Cherri pressed a kiss to the man’s cheek.

Kobra tried not to stare.

"Let's hit the red line! I wrote a poem for the owner a year or two back, so he owes me a favour, but if they're out of rooms there’s not a lot of good that'll do for us."

Inside the motel, Cherri's prediction turned out to be half-right.

"Last room, boys."

"Last— There's only one room left?"

"Yep," The receptionist looked Kobra up and down a little speculatively "Is that an issue?"

”What’s that supposed to mea—”

“That’s great,” Cherri checked the receptionist’s nametag, “Gertie. We’ll take it.”

Kobra took a deep breath through his nose and flashed a smile at the receptionist, “Thanks.” He reached for his wallet almost unconsciously, before Cherri reached out with a questioning look. "I— You got us a ride. I'll cover this. Whatever."

The receptionist processed Kobra's card quickly and handed him a single dented key, labelled ‘8’.

With some effort, Kobra helped Cherri lift his trunk and carry it to their room at the far end of the motel. He unlocked the door and fumbled for the light switch, turning it on to reveal...

One bed.

Great.

"Great," huffed Kobra.

Cherri poked his head around Kobra's shoulder and saw the bed, his face falling as he took in what that clearly meant.

"Maybe we can— I don't know. Maybe there’s some extra blankets? I can sleep on the floor if you want."

"Sure," Kobra ran a hand through his hair and set his briefcase down. "I'm going to take a shower, you... Look for blankets."

There wasn’t a ‘no smoking’ sign anywhere that Kobra saw, so he lit a cigarette before getting into the shower and smoked the whole thing before he needed to get his hair wet. Kobra washed quickly, the shower was slimy and the water didn't heat up quite enough for his liking, so by the time he was done he was getting frustrated again. At least he couldn’t feel the airplane on him still.

Cherri was relaxing on the bed when he emerged, drinking a can of pop from somewhere and scribbling in a notebook with the same hand. Kobra looked around. The room had been transformed. Cherri's trunk lay open on the ground, which was notably missing a makeshift bed, and there was shit on every surface of the room. Clothes on the armchair, shoes laying across the floor, a prosthetic arm lying next to the picture of a pink-haired person on the bedside table.

"Comfortable?" Snapped Kobra.

He must have startled Cherri. He jumped, spilling soda on the bed and knocking the picture frame off of the table as he flailed.

"Shoot, sorry. I— There were no blankets, so I figured—"

"Whatever." Kobra stepped towards the bed, noting that the cola had somehow gotten only on the unclaimed side of the bed. "I'm going to bed."

"Yeah, I'm pretty tired, too. Hey, uh, hope you don't mind. I've been told I snore."

Another sigh escaped Kobra. It wasn't like he had much choice at this point. He'd grown up sharing a room with his sibling, though, surely Cherri couldn't snore louder than Party.


	4. Chapter 4

Turns out, Cherri could.

Kobra rolled onto his side, grimacing at the sticky-cold blankets pulling at his undershirt as he did. Behind him, Cherri snorted and snuffled again. Kobra shoved his head under the pillow, pressing down on it with one hand. He could still hear Cherri. Having had enough, Kobra turned over and gave Cherri's arm — well, shoulder — a shove.

"Huh?" Cherri blinked awake, looking confused for a split-second before he seemed to recognize Kobra. "Oh, sorry, was I snoring?"

"Like a damn chainsaw. You ever tried sleeping on your side?"

If Kobra's words came out a little harsh, it was only half his fault.

"Oh, I can... try that. Normally I don't because my arm starts to fall asleep and sometimes I wake up with a major crick in my neck and—"

"Just—” Kobra took a sharp breath, trying to keep his temper in check. “Can you sleep on your side?"

"I'll try."

"Awesome."

Kobra turned his back to Cherri and tried to bed down. He felt Cherri reposition himself behind him, rolling back-to-back with Kobra. Cherri squirmed. He wiggled his shoulders. He yawned loudly and arched his back, pushing his head into Kobra's.

Kobra rolled his eyes and moved forward, he was almost on the edge of the bed, and the spilled pop was so much more obvious in this spot. He waited for Cherri to relax before scooting back an inch if only so he didn't feel like he was about to fall off the bed.

Again, Cherri wiggled. He flopped onto his stomach and shoved his arm under the pillow, then wormed onto his other side.

Kobra closed his eyes, praying he'd be able to get at least some sleep with Cherri doing his acrobatics act behind him.

Ten minutes later, Cherri still hadn't managed to find a comfortable position, apparently, but he had started up a series of jaw-cracking yawns painfully close to Kobra's ear.

Fed up, Kobra sat up, flicking the light on and glaring at Cherri.

"You can't just sleep, can you? Didn't think to maybe tell me that you fidget like a colicky baby? Witch. First, you steal my cab, then you bother me the whole flight, then you take me to this dumpy motel that has  _ one bed _ left, and you spill soda all over only my half of it somehow? Witch, how the hell do people even put up with you?” Kobra got up, pacing around the room as he ranted. “You’ve got shit all over the room, it’s like you’ve got your entire life inside that nasty trunk, you never stop snoring or yawning or  _ talking _ . Has no one ever told you to shut up? Witch, if I’d known it’d be like this I’d have slept on the damn airport floor.”

Cherri let him rave, sitting up and gazing absently at Kobra until he ran out of things to complain about and stood, panting, in the centre of the room.

“You done?”

Shooting Cherri a glare, Kobra nodded tightly.

“Great. Because I don’t know how you somehow got the idea that I’ve been particularly enjoying this, either. My flight got messed up, too. I’m also sharing a shitty motel room with a complete stranger. And in case you haven’t noticed, you’re an asshole.”

“I’m—” While Kobra spluttered indignantly, it was easy for Cherri to speak over him

“You’re rude. You smoked  _ in  _ the bathroom without asking if that would bug me. You throw a fit if things aren’t even slightly your way, Mr. I-paid-for-a-first-class-ticket.”

“I did—”

“And because you asked so nicely, people  _ like _ me. I’m not an asshole, my customers like my poetry, my friends like my jokes, my—” Cherri took a deep breath. “My sister likes spending time with me. People put up with me because I don’t spend my entire life looking down my nose at them, maybe you should try it sometime. Now, I’m sorry that you’re having a hard time sleeping and you’re taking it out on me. But I’m  _ also _ awake right now when I’d really rather not be. And I was just about to fall asleep, too. So you can either go, or you can stay, but you have to start treating me like a person that is  _ also _ having a shitty time right now, okay?”

Kobra blinked. An apology was on the tip of his tongue, but he couldn’t form the words after having been so thoroughly and — he hated to admit it — rightly rebuked. Instead, Kobra climbed back into the bed, curling carefully around the stickiest parts of the sheets, and closed his eyes.

Cherri must have found a comfortable way to lie, because in no time at all, both of the men were sound asleep.

* * *

So sound asleep, in fact, that neither of them noticed someone sneaking into the room, stealing all of the cash out of both of their wallets, and departing again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Congrats to everyone predicting how I'd start this chapter I may be predictable but y'all are reading so ha


	5. Chapter 5

Kobra woke up warm. He tugged the blankets tighter to his front and sighed. He was so warm. It’d been a while since he just woke up this comfortable. He sighed again and pushed back into the warmth surrounding him. An arm slipped onto his waist and he idly pawed for it, lacing his fingers through the hand and pulling it up to his chest. That was better.

Sleep tugged at the edges of his consciousness, but he knew he had something to do. Soon enough Party would be knocking his door down, telling him to, “get up, Kobes! We got shit to do and offerings to make!” but for the moment, Kobra kept his eyes closed and lavished in the embrace. 

He traced over the last day in his mind, catching himself up on what he could tell Party and what he couldn’t. He could mention the asshole teenager that stole his cab, but not losing forty carbons to that businessman for a cab neither of them ended up catching.

He could tell them about remeeting the guy that stole his cab at the airport, but not Kobra cursing him out at midnight.

What happened after that? Kobra dug at his memory but somehow couldn’t remember anything between the guy… what was his name again? Cherri Cola. That was it. He couldn’t remember anything between Cherri Cola almost-rightfully lambasting him for being an asshole and now, curled up in his childhood bed.

The arm around his chest tightened for a minute, warm breath fanning over his cheek.

“Morning,” a voice murmured.

A voice Kobra recognized. Unfortunately.

“Cherri…”

“Mmm?”

“Why are you spooning me?”

“‘S cold,” replied Cherri. 

His voice was heavy with sleep.

“Cherri.”

Cherri blinked, Kobra felt his eyelashes catch in the unruly strands of his hair.

“Oh!”

Cherri shot up, pulling his arm from Kobra’s chest and rolling to the far side of the bed.

“Sorry! I didn’t— I— Uh, sorry.”

“That’s,” Kobra sat up, rolling his shoulders and shivering a bit, though he couldn’t tell if it was from the sudden chill or from the thought of spending the night in a… stranger’s arms. “Fine.”

“Sorry,” repeated Cherri.

“Whatever. I’m taking a shower.”

Kobra needed one, to get the feeling of Cherri’s skin off of him

After his shower, Kobra came out to a motel room that looked much cleaner than it had before he went into the shower, all of Cherri’s shit packed back into his overstuffed trunk. Kobra sat on the bed to look for plane tickets while Cherri took his own shower.

Nothing. No flights to Battery City.

Every headline he read said something about the bomb threat having been false, but the Battery City airport was still not receiving any flights, so he would have to find another way to get to his family.

Kobra informed Cherri of this when he emerged from the bathroom, looking shower-fresh and with his prosthetic arm reattached.

“Why don’t we just take a train? There’s got to be trains from El Paso to Batt City.”

Kobra looked it up, and sure enough, there were. He made a call to the ticket agency and booked two tickets for the cheapest seats he could get. Cherri’s face fell when he heard how much the tickets had cost, but he rallied a smile and offered to pay for breakfast.

“Fine by me,” agreed Kobra.

* * *

The diner was on the edge of town, halfway between the motel and the train station. Cherri apologized that his friend would be unable to get them a ride, “He’s got a radio show in the mornings, else I’m sure he’d give us a ride.” But Kobra couldn’t find it in himself to be mad at this point. He just wanted to get on the train and get away from Cherri.

He’d made sure to book tickets on separate cars.

Breakfast was… almost nice. Cherri rambled about his poetry, even reciting one when Kobra halfheartedly prompted him. It was better than eating in silence.

When the waitress delivered their bill, Cherri didn’t even let Kobra look at the check before snatching it off of the table and announcing that he’d cover it. He reached into his pocket to pull his wallet out, opening it, and pulling out… Nothing.

“What the—?”

“What?”

“I— My money— It’s gone.”

“Well, one of you has to pay, gentlemen,” the waitress interjected. She snapped her gum and looked down her nose at Cherri.

Kobra rankled, for some reason. Maybe Cherri’s words about looking down his nose at people were echoing in his ears, whatever.

“I’ll cover it, don’t worry.”

“Thanks, Kobes.”

Kobra stared for a moment at the nickname. It seemed a bit early for casual familiarity but he let it slide. He’d just eaten his first proper meal since the morning before and he didn’t want to sour his mood with an argument. He reached into his pocket for his own wallet and noticed that it, too, was empty.

“Oh no.”

“What?” Cherri leaned over the table and caught sight of Kobra’s empty wallet. A look of shock crossed his face and Kobra saw red.

“Oh, you bastard,” he snarled.

“What? You don’t think that I—”

“Well, I didn’t eat two hundred carbons, Cola. where the hell did you put them?”

“You think I took them? Where, pray tell, would I be hiding your precious carbons? You think I’d empty my own wallet if I’d taken anything from you?”

“Well—”

The waitress interrupted firmly, “One of you needs to pay, or I can always make a call to the local—”

“I’ll pay,” Kobra shot a look at Cherri. “Unless your credit card makes a mystical appearance.”

“Oh… I don’t… Have a—”

“I figured,” sighed Kobra. “I’ll pay.”

He tugged his credit card out and thankfully it went through with no issues.

“Have a better day!” Smirked the waitress.

Kobra had really just about had it with the attitude he’d been receiving from attendants lately. He bit back a swear at the waitress’s retreating form, then another when Cherri smiled weakly at him across the table.

“Should we go, then? Don’t wanna miss the train.”

“Sure.”

They left the booth together, picking up Cherri’s trunk where it sat at the front of the restaurant (they’d figured that they’d notice if anyone tried to steal it) and heading toward the train station.

They reached the station with fifteen minutes to spare, long enough for Cherri to find the baggage compartment and have his trunk stowed away. It was a one day ride to Battery City, and evidently that was short enough that Cherri felt comfortable separating from the trunk that held what looked like everything he owned, though Kobra knew that that couldn’t be the case. Just because he’d been travelling with one briefcase doesn’t mean everyone else packed as light.

Kobra had started to regret the one-briefcase thing, now that it had been a long sweaty walk in the same suit he’d worn the day previous. He couldn’t wait to get to his sibling’s place and steal their clothes like he used to when they were little. He’ll still get there they day of, it could be worse.

As the train rolled up to the platform, Cherri and Kobra stood side-by-side.

“Well,” Cherri said, peering at Kobra out of the corner of his eye.

“Well...”

“Thanks for the adventure, Kobra Kid.”

“Sure.”

“Are you sure you don’t want me to pay you back for—?”

“No, it’s fine,” Kobra faked a grin. “I got your poetry for free, that’s good enough.”

“Are you sure, though? I can uh… Give me your number! I’ll pay you back when I get some more cash... Or something. C’mon!”

He was smiling, nudging Kobra’s shoulder with his own and Kobra almost gave in. Then he remembered that he really didn’t want the overfriendly poet to have his number.

“That’s okay, Cherri. It’s what any decent person would do.”

“If you’re sure…”

“I am.”

“Well,” Cherri gathered Kobra into a quick hug, but let go when Kobra stiffened. “Enjoy the ride! Maybe I’ll see you around the city.”

“Maybe.”

The train pulled up to the platform. Kobra checked his ticket, then set off toward the right door. He turned at the last second and caught sight of Cherri’s blue streak as he boarded the train. Kobra sighed.

Peace and quiet, once again.

When he found his seat it didn’t take long for him to stow his briefcase, put his headphones in, and shoot a quick text to Party. _On the train, see you tomorrow._

Party’s reply came quickly, followed by separate texts from Ghoul and Jet.

_POIS: Have a fun ride! Love you._

_GHOULIE BOY: prty says ur on th train? y/n?_

_✈️⭐: cant wait to see you!! safe travels <3 _

Kobra replied quickly but didn’t really intend on keeping up a conversation for the duration of the ride. Mostly, he just wanted to sleep and wake up when he could see his family.

So he did.


	6. Chapter 6

Until, of course, the train broke down.

A few miles outside of Tucson, Kobra took a headphone out to hear concerned whispers running up and down the aisle, he flagged down the nearest attendant, harried-looked and tired, and asked them what the issue was.

“Engine problems, Sir. We have to make a stop to see if it can be fixed.”

“If it can’t?”

“We’ll arrange for transportation to the nearest city and a refund for the rest of the ticket will be issued.”

Kobra sighed, “Thanks.”

The attendant nodded and hurried away.

The train was stopped for an hour and a half before they announced that whatever the issue was, it couldn’t be fixed. Kobra wasn’t sure if he wanted to laugh or to cry, the Witch really didn’t want him making it home, did she?

Passengers piled off the train, blinking and sweating in the Arizona sun. The rail line ran along a sandy stretch of desert, dotted with scrub and cacti. In the distance, a range of mountains rose and silhouetted against them, Kobra could see the transportation that the travel agency had hailed. Why they couldn’t come right to the line, he didn’t know, but nevertheless, he tucked his jacket under his arm and set off toward the buses.

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a flash of blue and turned to see Cherri Cola, sweating profusely and dragging his trunk through the sand.

An internal war started to rage inside of Kobra. Half of him knew he should help Cherri, half of him didn’t want to see the poet again for the rest of his life. His feet ended up winning the battle and they guided him toward the struggling poet. Wordlessly, he picked up the trailing end of the trunk and started walking alongside Cherri. Cherri didn’t say anything, for once, but he looked grateful.

* * *

“Okay,” Cherri waved a hand in front of Kobra’s face and he flinched, taking a headphone out and refocusing his eyes to look at anything other than… whatever he’d been looking at. “I think that should cover it.”

“Cover what?”

“Our… Our bus? To get to the City? Remember?”

Kobra stared blankly at Cherri for a moment. Sunlight was filtering through a window somewhere and playing across his features. He looked… concerned? There was something in the poet’s green eyes that puzzled Kobra. He blinked, then shook his head to clear it. He hadn’t slept right recently.

“Right. What did you do, again?”

“Love poems! Written while you wait. Six carbs a pop,” smiled Cherri.

“How many did you have to write?”

“Write?” Cherri laughed. “None today. I sold about fifteen, though. Perks of having no one actually recognize your poetry. I’m gonna get a lot of angry letters in three years or so when I’m famous and people clue in that I sold them all the same poem.”

Kobra laughed too, maybe too loud for the half-empty mall they were camped out — for lack of a better word — in, but Cherri didn’t stop him.

“You’re crazy, you know that?”

“Maybe so. C’mon, bus station’s about half a mile east and I don’t want to be in this city any longer than we have to be.”

Kobra stood up from the trunk and hefted his end up, he waited for Cherri to pick the other side up before setting out into the early Arizona afternoon.

* * *

Cherri handled buying the tickets, he was already set on paying, that had been settled before they even reached Tucson, and Kobra wasn’t interested in trying to play nice with the Dead Pegasus ticket lineups. He waited outside, propped against the wall of the building, lit up a smoke, and shot a few texts off to Party.

_ train broke down _

_ POIS: Shit. Seriously? _

_ were getting a bus instead. shouldnt be too much later anyway _

_ POIS: If you say so. You sure you don’t want me to… I don’t know, do something? _

_ just hang tight _

_ i’ll see you tmrw _

_ love you _

_ POIS: Love you, too _

“Two tickets on the next bus leaving Tucson, coming right up!”

Kobra looked over the rim of his sunglasses at Cherri, who had a goofy smile plastered over his face as he waved two paper tickets.

“When does it leave?”

“Twenty minutes, let’s go!”

Cherri grabbed the cigarette from Kobra’s fingers and stubbed it out against the wall, next he grabbed Kobra’s hand and pulled him toward the bus, then realized that he’d forgotten his trunk and doubled back to pick it up. 

They got the trunk stowed and on board with just a few minutes to spare. As the bus pulled away from the station, Cherri had his nose pressed to the glass and Kobra could just see his wide eyes in the reflection.

“Never seen the desert before?”

“Nope!” Cherri settled back in his seat, though he kept shooting glances out of the window. “Never been this far inland. You?”

“Yeah, our parents took us on a lot of trips when we were kids. Wanted us to see the world or some shit.”

“‘Us’?”

“Me and my…” Kobra debated what Cherri’s reaction would be, then decided he only really had to put up with it for a few hours more either way. “Sibling. Their friends, too, when we got a little older.”

“Oh! I totally get the sibling-having-close-friends thing. My sister was always bringing hir friends around. Two years older than me, so we were close, but zie was a little too popular to spend a lot of time with me.”

Kobra relaxed a bit. “That sucks. I haven’t seen my sibling in a few years. Or his friends, I guess. They all live together.”

“That’s why you’re so eager to get home? Or—”

“Home. Yeah. That and the fact that it’s Setsubun.”

“I never really found out what that is. If you want to share, of course.”

“It welcomes spring. Part of the bigger Spring Festival but we like the day because it’s the last day of winter. Plus, when we were little our parents would give us sesame seeds to throw and, I mean, you aren’t  _ supposed _ to throw them at each other but no one ever stopped us.”

Cherri joined Kobra’s laughter, then got quiet. There was a long moment where the two men sat in silence, then Cherri broke it by saying, “I hope you make it.”

“Me too.”

“Hopefully by the time we get to the station they’ll be accepting flights at BCX.”

“What do you mean ‘the station’? Aren’t we going to the city?”

Cherri flushed. “You said ‘next bus out of here’, so I got the next bus!”

“Cherri,” gritted Kobra. “Where are we going?”

“Phoenix,” Cherri admitted.

“Great. Shiny. Fantastic.”

“I’m sorry! It was better than nothing and I didn’t really have enough to get us all the way to the city anyway!”

“Fine. Whatever. I’ll figure it out.”

Kobra put his headphones in and tuned Cherri’s desperate apologies out.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit of violence in this chapter and some smoking (probably should have mentioned that in the last chapter, too)

At the Phoenix bus station, Kobra called a rental car agency, he’d about had it with trains and planes, and in a car at least he’d be at least allowed to put the pedal to the metal and blast his music through the speakers as he ripped along a desert highway. 

Or something like that.

The reality was somewhat less glamorous, Kobra thought, as he paced through a rental car lot some miles from the train station, counting rows carefully and squinting at the ticket in his hand through the harsh sunlight. N-14, N-14, N-14... He looked up, row L. Two rows later, Kobra turned and began counting cars. He made it to thirty before he realized he’d been walking in the wrong direction, but after a bit of backtracking, Kobra wiped sweat out of his eyes and reached spot N-14.

It was empty.

Kobra swore. 

His vision went red, face heating up to match the sweltering desert he’d been left in. He kicked the bumper of the car in N-13 and spun around, heaving the rental agreement and car key several rows over. Blindly, Kobra paced up and down the aisle for a few minutes. He couldn’t believe this. It was really one thing after another on this damn journey, wasn’t it? His phone buzzed in his pocket and Kobra reached in, grabbing his phone and throwing _it_ several aisles over to join the useless rental agreement that he’d nearly maxed his credit card on.

Wait, shit. He’d really just thrown away his phone, his only way to get in contact with his sibling and the rest of his family. It wasn’t like he had any of their numbers memorized, they were all just saved as contacts. And he was out of cash and his credit card _was_ nearly maxed. Awesome.

The distant rumble of a bus engine pushed through Kobra’s fevered anger and he realized that, maybe, he could go back to the rental agency and explain the issue. The lot was near-full, they could probably just give him a new key and he might still make Setsubun. At the very least he would get to see his family this year, even if he missed most of the celebrations.

Kobra started toward the shuttle, first walking, then jogging, then outright sprinting toward the stop. He watched the bus doors close from twenty feet away, and stumbled to a halt, flipping off the shuttle as it drove off into the sunlight.

Okay. How long of a walk could it be back to the station? Taking a moment to— No. Kobra _couldn’t_ plug his headphones in because he’d destroyed his phone, right. Taking a moment to call himself an idiot for throwing away his phone, Kobra started down the highway in the direction the bus had gone.

The sun beat down on him, sweat dripped down his forehead, into his eyes, down his neck. Kobra took a moment to thank the Witch that the company had covered his top surgery the year before, trying to do this walk in a binder would have just been another cherry on top of this shit sundae. Even without it, the walk wasn’t easy. Kobra stumbled more than once over nothing, rocks on the side of the road or some other shit. Stepping into a hole in the dirt that he hadn’t noticed sent him crashing to the ground, his ankle sharply protesting even as he felt the skin of his palms tear. Kobra rolled to his back, closing his eyes and lying still, half-praying that a guardian angel or vulture or incredibly kind stranger would swoop down and save him. The best he got was a little snake poking its head out of the hole, hissing at him, then disappearing back into the darkness of its tunnel.

“Screw you too.”

At least the snake didn’t reply, and as Kobra got back to his feet, he caught sight of the sign for the rental agency in the distance.

Half an hour later, Kobra pushed his way to the front of the line, dirty and dripping sweat, and instantly bristled as the attendant at the counter held up a finger with a plastic customer-service smile.

“Oh, gee, Marie, you're a stitch. No, Mom needed three tickets. Yeah, Dad wants one but only if he isn’t seated next to— Mm-hmm.”

Kobra shifted impatiently, and the attendant held up a finger.

“Well, I don’t mind where I’m sitting but if it’s too close to the stage you know I’ll— Yeah, uh-huh.”

“Excuse me—”

“One second, dear,” smiled the attendant. “I have to go, sorry, doll. Oh, gee, you’ll see me soon! I know, I know, talk soon. Ta-ta!” She hung the phone up and finally turned to Kobra. “Welcome to Zonerunner, may I help you?”

“Yes,” snapped Kobra.

“... _How_ may I help you?” The attendant replied uncertainly.

“You can start by wiping that fucking dumb-ass smile off your rosy fucking cheeks. Then give me a fucking automobile. A fucking Jeep, a fucking Trans Am, a fucking Honda. Four fucking wheels and a seat.”

The attendant's vapid smile faded, she leaned forward slightly as she spoke. “I don't care for the way you're speaking.”

“I don't care for the way your company left me in fucking nowhere,” replied Kobra venomously. “With keys to a fucking car that isn't fucking there. I didn't care to fucking walk down a fucking highway and across a fucking desert to get back here to have you smile at my fucking face. I want a fucking car right fucking now.”

If there was any concern on the attendant’s face, it was mocking. She started tapping away at her keyboard, then looked up at Kobra.

“May I see your rental agreement?”

“I threw it away.”

“Oh, boy,” the attendant’s eyebrows raised as she pressed a single button on her keyboard.

Kobra faltered, “ _Oh, boy_ , what?”

Beckoning with one finger, the attendant leaned over the counter. Kobra leaned down, coming nearly nose to nose with the now-coldly grinning woman. 

“You're fucked.”

* * *

A similar sentiment was being echoed by the taxi driver Kobra encountered outside of the rental building.

“I can’t drive you to Batt City, you know how far that is?”

“Yes, but I promise I can pay really well—” He couldn’t. “—and you don’t know how badly I need to get there.”

“Fuckin’ life or death? Tough shit, kid, I don’t drive out-of-state.”

Kobra gritted his teeth, trying _so_ hard not to let his anger get the best of him. “Do you know someone who will?”

“I look like a concierge? _Can I get your bags, sir_? No cabbie in his right mind’s gonna drive you all the way to California. Best bet’s renting a car.”

“Do you think I didn’t fucking try that already? Listen, buddy, if you aren’t gonna help me can you get the fuck out of my way so I can find someone who will?”

“I just told you, you aren’t gonna—”

Kobra snapped, “Just fuck off already.”

The cabbie snapped. He reared back and punched Kobra square in the face. Kobra fell back into the road, groaning. Tires squealed in his ear and he turned just in time to see a car slam to a stop, inches from his head.

A door opened and slammed shut. Kobra closed his eyes, woozy from the hit, then felt hands on his shoulders pulling him to sit up.

“Kobra? You doin’ okay, bud?”

Kobra already knew who would be smiling at him when he opened his eyes, so he kept them closed for a little longer.

“Just shiny.”

“Yeah, I bet,” laughed Cherri. “You look like shit. C’mon, I got a car. Let’s go.”

Kobra opened his eyes and let Cherri help him to his feet. Cherri supported him into the passenger’s seat and shoved a handful of napkins at him.

“‘M fine, Cher,” Kobra mumbled.

“You’re bleeding all over your suit. Tilt your head back and keep up the pressure.”

“You gotta lotta ‘sperience with being punched?”

“Laugh it up, smart guy.”

The door closed. A moment later, Cherri climbed into the driver’s seat, started the car, and drove away.

He let Kobra deal with his bloody nose in silence until they were forty-five minutes down the highway, windows cracked the let in the breeze that the broken air conditioner couldn’t produce.

“Five hours to Batt City,” Cherri announced. “If you wanna call your sibling.”

“Can’t,” Kobra sniffed, the flow of blood from his nose had stopped so he straightened up and tossed the bloody napkin out the window. “Lost my phone.”

“How’d you lose your phone?”

“Threw it away.”

Cherri laughed. Kobra rankled at first, then decided there was no use in being mad about it. He laughed too, wincing at the pressure on his hopefully-not-broken nose.

“Take it getting a rental car wasn’t as easy as you thought?”

“No,” he admitted. “How’d you get yours?”

“Not a rental. Traded a poem and the chance to touch my arm to some guy that either really hates disabled people, or really likes us.”

Kobra shuddered.

Cherri continued, “Think I’m still better off than you, though, no offence. Honestly a bit lucky I ran into him because rental places get nervous when you try to rent without a credit card, plus I didn’t want to spend a few hours hawking poems.”

“What would you’ve done if you couldn’t get a rental?”

“Hang out in Phoenix, I guess.” Cherri shrugged. “Not much I can do, no cards, no cash.”

“And miss your, uh… Sibling’s? Your sister’s anniversary?”

“Nah,” Cherri’s eyes were fixed on the horizon. “Zie probably wouldn’t notice if I did.”

He didn’t seem to want to say more, and Kobra wasn’t going to push it. He searched around for a new topic, for some reason just sitting in silence didn’t seem right to him.

“Hey, uh. If this’s your car now… You mind if I smoke?”

“Try to blow it out the window,” replied Cherri.

“Thanks.”

He lit up, offering Cherri a stick as well. Cherri didn’t accept, but after Kobra had taken a few drags he reached out and grabbed it without looking, tangling their fingers a bit in the tradeoff. When he passed the stick back after a drag, Kobra was careful not to touch Cherri.

They didn’t drive wholly in silence. Sometimes they did, sometimes they talked. For a while, Cherri turned the radio on. Kobra was prepared to suffer through whatever music the poet liked, but he found that Cherri shared his taste in 80’s alternative, which was nice. He didn’t sing along, but the poet did, quietly. Strangely, it was the talking that Kobra found he enjoyed the most. 

Cherri was actually kind of funny. When he wasn’t being overbearing and annoying, that is. He could keep up with Kobra’s wit, as they talked about everything from underground music scenes to embarrassing highschool memories to, yes, even poetry. Cherri told Kobra about growing up with his sister, how zie taught him “everything he knows about everything that matters,” and Kobra laughed, said that was true for his sibling, too.

Cherri got quiet then, turned the radio up slightly. Kobra lit up another cigarette and leaned back in his seat. The sun had barely finished setting and the desert around them was just fading from gold to blue, stars beginning to make themselves visible in the darkest parts of the sky. Outside, the air was warm when Kobra tapped his ash out the window and all the while, the radio crackled and hummed, something bluesy and soft oozing from the speakers.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's a bit of violence in this chapter too, plus alcohol and a fade-to-black scene at the end so stop reading at "Don't push it" if you don't want either of those!

Kobra snapped awake to sparks flying and the sound of Cherri screaming curses while the driver’s side of the car ground against a guardrail. He jerked the wheel hard to the right, tires squealing as they crossed two lanes and the median, then bumped onto the right side of the freeway and straightened out.

“What. The. _Fuck_ ,” Kobra gasped.

“Sorry! Sorry,” replied Cherri, voice rising sharply. “I don’t know what happened! I was just driving and then we were—”

“Did you fucking fall asleep?” Kobra’s voice rose to match Cherri’s. “Did you fucking fall asleep while you were fucking _driving_?”

“I don’t know! I’m sorry!”

“Pull over! Pull the fuck over.”

Cherri did, turning on the hazard lights so that they’d be visible on the narrow shoulder. As soon as the car stopped moving, Kobra flung his door open and climbed out. He paced up and down the edge of the freeway, not even looking at the panicked poet that had nearly killed them both.

“Unbelievable. Unbe-fucking-lievable,” Kobra kept repeating to himself. “Bomb threat, train breaks down, wrong bus tickets, nearly fucking die on the side of some Witchforsaken freeway in the middle of absolutely damn nowhere. _Did I do something wrong?”_ He flung his head back to shout at the sky. “Did I fucking… Am I cursed?”

“Kobra…”

“Why? Fucking why?”

“Kobra!”

Cherri’s voice pierced Kobra’s mind and he turned, seething, ready to rip into the man.

“What? Fucking what could you possibly have to— Holy shit.”

The car was on fire.

Flames poured from the windows, thick black smoke rising through the air. Kobra’s jaw dropped, all he could do was stare.

“My trunk!”

Cherri darted forward, seemingly forgetting that the car was _on fire_ and could explode at any second to reef open the trunk of the car and drag out his and Kobra’s luggage. He pulled them back to Kobra then stood next to him, hands twisting in his hair as he watched the flames spread and grow.

“Call 911. Cherri, call 911.”

“I can’t,” the look Cherri sent Kobra was chilling. “My phone’s in the cupholder.”

Kobra's legs went numb. The next thing he knew he was sitting on Cherri’s trunk, watching the glow of the flames reflect off of the ashphalt. Cherri was next to him, hunched forward and staring silently at the blaze. 

The car didn’t burn for long, didn’t explode in a shower of sparks and gasoline, just petered out slowly until it sat smoking, then cooled. Kobra watched it the entire time, waiting for it to blow up in his face, like most everything else the past day had. 

But it didn’t, and when Kobra deemed the car cool enough to touch, he pushed off of the trunk and walked back to it. The backseat was smoking slightly, and there was little left of the car other than a charred frame, but when Kobra reached in to twist the key the engine started right up again.

“Get in,” he called back to Cherri.

The poet didn’t respond, but the car dipped with the weight of his trunk and then he climbed into the passenger’s seat. Kobra flipped on the turn signal, looked over his shoulder, and eased back onto the road. He didn’t try to push the car, and they rolled along at half the speed limit in the far right lane. Thankfully, the road was pretty quiet at whatever time it was — the radio had not escaped the flames and Kobra’s grip on the steering wheel wouldn’t loosen enough for him to check his watch — and an exit sign advertising lodging came up quickly.

Kobra took the exit without bothering to check with Cherri, the poet had lost his right to have a say in things when he drove them onto the _wrong side of the freeway_. Less than a minute off the freeway was the promised lodging. _La Ruta_ Motel. 

The neon sign flickered weakly as Kobra parked at the office and got out.

The office was empty. A vending machine buzzed in the corner and a sign on the counter cheerfully proclaimed that “Tommy is on Duty Tonight!”, but there was no one in the beat-up office chair behind it. Kobra looked around again, just to be sure, then banged loudly on the counter when he didn’t spot an attendant.

“What?” A greasy-looking man with long, dark hair emerged from a door behind the counter. He took a swig from a can of Jump Juice and peered at Kobra suspiciously. “What do you want?”

“I need a room for the night,” he responded.

The man, Tommy, Kobra supposed, looked him up and down, then cocked an eyebrow.

“Fifty.”

“Sure, great, no problem,” grumbled Kobra. He reached into his back pocket for his wallet. Fifty carbons was highway robbery for a dump like this, but it beat, well, anything that wasn’t a bed. 

Kobra’s wallet wasn’t in his pants.

He checked all of his pockets, patted down his jacket, nothing.

“One second,” he grimaced at Tommy, turned, and left the office.

As Kobra reached the door, it opened from the other side, Cherri stepped back to let Kobra out but grabbed at his arm.

“So? Did you get us a room?”

“There’s no _us_ ,” hissed Kobra. “You nearly killed me with your shitty driving and I’m not forking over the cash to share another Witchdamned room with you.”

“But— Kobes— You know I don’t have any—”

“Not. My. Problem.” Kobra shook Cherri’s hand off and pushed past him. 

He heard Cherri’s voice, fake-cheery in the second before the door slammed shut, “How do you feel about poetry?”

Kobra found his wallet, jammed where it must have fallen out of his pocket between the passenger’s seat and the sidewall, half-melted from the fire. He grabbed it and returned to the office just as Cherri, looking dejected, slumped his way out of the door.

“Poetry only get you so far?” Sneered Kobra.

Cherri’s eyes flashed as he turned, grabbing Kobra by the lapels of his coat and slamming him back against the wall of the office.

“You think this is all my fault? Didn’t notice that the passenger side’s more burned than anywhere else? You think the car just spontaneously went up in flames or did you forget who fucking chain-smoked half a pack while we were driving? Fuck you, Kobra. This is as much on you as it is on me.”

The world went red and Kobra threw Cherri back. Cherri stumbled, landing against the soot-stained hood of the car and looking up at Kobra with venom splashed across his features. 

“Enjoy your room, you fucking prick.”

Kobra didn’t bother to reply, he marched into the office, pulled out his wallet, and flashed his teeth at an unruffled-looking Tommy.

“You said fifty?”

Kobra’s rictus grin faded as he opened his wallet and pulled out a charred rectangle that used to be a credit card.

“I can take cash,” Tommy grunted.

“Right, right, of course.”

Kobra dug through his pockets, unearthing a crumpled handful of bills and some coins.

“How does…” Kobra dumped the cash on the counter and quickly sorted it out. “Twenty-two, sixty-five sound?”

“Doesn’t sound like fifty.”

Tommy turned and in his desperation, Kobra nearly leapt over the counter.

“Please! It’s all I’ve got.”

Turning slowly, Tommy grabbing Kobra’s wrist and wrenched his grip from the shoulder of his silk button-down. He held Kobra’s hand up and contemplated the watch sitting just above his shirt cuff.

“How does twenty-two, sixty-five, and this—” Kobra reluctantly indicated his watch “—sound?”

“One night,” replied Tommy roughly. He let go of Kobra’s wrist and turned to grab a key off of the rack while Kobra unbuckled his watch and set it next to his carbons. “Room 6.”

The key jangled on the ring as Kobra snatched it up. He stomped back out of the office, letting the door snap shut behind him. He tried not to spare a glance for the burned-out car still parked in front of the office, but couldn’t help noticing Cherri, curled up in the backseat with an extra jacket draped over his torso.

When Kobra let himself into the room, kicked his shoes off, dropped his briefcase on the bed, and flopped facedown next to it. His nose, still tender from being punched, protested with a throb and Kobra tipped his head to the side. The silence filled his ears, almost ringing with the absence of… any sound. With a groan, Kobra rolled over and sat up. He should sleep. 

He should take a shower.

After a quick shower, Kobra sat back on the bed in his undershirt and boxers, scrubbed a hand through his drying hair, and looked to his right. There was a gap in the curtains and through it, he could see the burned-out car.

A twinge of guilt filled Kobra at the thought of Cherri just sleeping in the car. Alone, outside. Kobra reflected on everything Cherri had said, indirectly telling him that the fire had been his fault, everything he’d told him off for the night before — had it only been the night before? He dropped backwards and closed his eyes, pressing the palms of his hands to his eyelids until he saw sparks.

He got up and opened the door.

“Cherri,” Kobra called across the parking lot. “Get in.”

A minute later, Cherri and his trunk were sitting in the middle of the room.

“I’m… Sorry. That I treated you like shit.” Witch, Kobra’s old therapist would be so proud of him. “I’ve been unfair to you, most of this wasn’t your fault, and I shouldn’t have blamed you for it.”

Cherri was silent for a long moment. When he finally met Kobra’s gaze, he cocked an eyebrow. “‘Most’?”

“Don’t push it.”

“So what now?” Cherri grinned and something eased in Kobra’s chest.

“Sleep,” suggested Kobra. “Still got a ways to go before we get to the city.”

“That’s fair. But,” Cherri knelt, dug through his trunk for a second, and stood with several small bottles in his hands. “That’s two rooms you’ve got me now, and I feel like I should pay you back somehow.”

He held out a bottle and Kobra read the label with a smirk, “Sounds like a plan.”

Between the two of them, the bottles disappeared quickly. Kobra wasn’t drunk, Cherri hadn’t had that many of the little airplane liquors on hand, but he had a good buzz going by the time he fell back against the headboard. At the foot of the mattress, Cherri leaned onto his elbow and looked up at Kobra through his eyelashes.

“So how’d you end up in Seattle if home’s Batt City?”

“Work,” shrugged Kobra. “Tech job fresh out of uni and I moved when headquarters did. How’d you?”

“Who said the city was home?”

Wracking his brain, Kobra couldn’t think of a time that Cherri had said so. “Guess you didn’t. Just where your sister lives, then?”

“No. Zie doesn’t live there anymore.”

Cherri’s eyebrows were drawn together again, touchy subject. Kobra tried to redirect softly. “Why were you in Seattle, Cherri?”

“Just where I ended up, I guess. I was gonna do a big tour of the country, meet people, try new things. What good’s a poet that’s never done anything? I just… stalled in Seattle. Wanted to be back for the anniversary but… an adventure’s just as good to write about.”

“You’re gonna write about me?”

Cherri sat up and leaned forward slightly. “Why not? Bomb threat, the desert, stalwart companion by my side…”

Kobra leaned forward too, hypnotized by Cherri’s words. 

“It’s the stuff people dream of writing. Memories and mistakes and miles of empty road between you and the place you know you should be. In a million lifetimes no one else could live our exact story.”

Cherri’s hands were on the mattress. Kobra’s too. He hadn’t noticed himself moving closer until now, Cherri’s breath fanning over his face and his deep green eyes staring into Kobra’s.

“Cherri,” breathed Kobra. 

Cherri swallowed. He leaned up and pressed his lips against Kobra’s. 

Time didn’t stop. There were no fireworks. Kobra’s eyes fluttered shut and he pressed into the kiss with the barest amount of pressure but it wasn’t life-changing.

Still, Witch, was it good.

Kobra reached up, finding Cherri’s shirt collar and tangling his fingers in it. He pulled Cherri closer, feeling the mattress shift as Cherri moved toward Kobra until they were both kneeling, winding arms around necks and waists as their mouths moved together. 

When Cherri pulled back to breathe, Kobra ducked his head, kissing a line down Cherri’s throat and then back up. As their lips met again, Cherri slid his hands down to Kobra’s hips, pulling his front flush against his own and then moving again. One hand stayed at the small of Kobra’s back as the other one pulled at his shirt, untucking it from Kobra’s pants and grazing warm fingertips against his skin.

Then Kobra’s breath stuttered and he pulled back.

“Kobes?” There was a shine on Cherri’s lower lip. “Is that okay?”

“Yeah. Just—” Kobra took a deep breath. It’d be fine. Probably. “I’m trans.”

“Oh.” Cherri pulled back.

Kobra closed his eyes.

“Let me know what you don’t want me doing?”

Oh.

A shiver ran up Kobra’s spine as Cherri nosed at his cheek. He opened his eyes to Cherri looking up at him through his eyelashes.

“Is that okay?”

Unsteadily, Kobra nodded.

Cherri ran a hand through Kobra’s hair, tracing kisses down the side of his neck. At his collarbone, he mumbled against his skin, “Is this okay?”

Kobra nodded.

Pressing closer, Cherri nipped at Kobra’s lip as he leaned forward. The hand he had at Kobra’s back kept his fall controlled when Kobra tipped onto the pillows. Cherri settled between his legs, holding himself up on his elbow.

“Is this okay?”

“Get the light.”

Cherri reached over to the bedside table and the room went dark.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One or two vague allusions to sex and a bit of a discussion about death in this chap!

Kobra woke up warm.

He grabbed the arm looped over his waist and laced his fingers through its hand, tugging it up to his chest. In his ear, Cherri hummed.

“Morning.” Kobra’s voice was rough.

Cherri’s was a bit rusty, too, when he replied, “Morning.”

“Time’s it?”

Cherri rolled back to look at the alarm clock on the table but kept his fingers tangled in Kobra’s.

“A little after eight,” he yawned.

Kobra couldn’t keep a smile out of his voice, “You tired?”

“You mean you aren’t?”

Cherri’s breath was sweet as it fanned over Kobra’s face. He pulled back slightly, tugging Kobra to roll onto his back and ducking his head to kiss him once, twice. A third time and Kobra was gasping for breath.

“C’mon,” Kobra pushed Cherri off to the side. “We should get on the road.”

“In a rush?”

“Today’s Setsubun,” explained Kobra. “Don’t wanna miss everything.”

Cherri nodded, “Okay.” He rolled to his feet and stretched, reached for his prosthetic where they’d put it on the bedside table the night before, and started to attach it. 

Kobra, too, got to his feet and wandered into the bathroom. He brushed his teeth and peed before going back out to the main room.

Cherri was crouched next to his trunk, digging through it for, Kobra assumed, fresh clothes.

“Hey Kobes, d’you want to borrow a shirt or something?”

“You sure? Shit, thanks.”

Cherri tossed Kobra a clean shirt and Kobra balled up his undershirt and button-down to shove into his briefcase. When he emerged from the borrowed shirt’s collar, hair ruffled, he caught sight of a familiar photo next to Cherri’s trunk. Someone with pink hair and Cherri’s eyes smiled out of the frame, a set of dog tags identical to Cherri’s around hir neck.

“That your sister?”

Cherri froze. His voice was cautiously even as he responded, “Yeah. That’s Newsie.”

“Zie’s pretty,” Kobra remarked. “How many years’s zie been married?”

“Not many.” Cherri finished repacking his trunk, placed the photo on top, and shut the lid. “Not many at all.”

They checked out quickly and loaded Cherri’s trunk into the car. Kobra drove, again, but the silence that they drove in was comfortable, rather than heavy.

Near San Bernardino, there started to be more vehicles on the road, so Kobra shouldn’t have really been surprised when a siren started up and he had to pull over.

The S/C/A/R/E/C/R/O/W seemed unamused with Kobra’s explanation of why, exactly, he was driving the burned-out hulk of a car down I-10 at nine-thirty AM on a Wednesday morning. He was less than impressed when Kobra couldn’t produce a driver’s licence, and Kobra was sure that he was about to get arrested again when he handed over the pile of ash that used to be the car’s insurance papers, not that they would have had Cherri’s name on them, anyway. Their saving grace turned out to be when Kobra flashed his Better Living Industries company card and the crow’s threatening demeanour changed completely.

“I can’t let you keep driving this thing,” he leered. “Mr. Kid. But I’ll let you off with a warning. This time.”

“Great,” gritted Kobra. He reminded himself how he needed to talk to ‘crows and turned his company-approved smile on. “Thank you, officer. Is that all?”

“Have a better day,” he smiled tonelessly.

Kobra sat on Cherri’s trunk while Cherri tried to hail anyone that could give them a ride. He had some luck when an agricultural transport pulled over and said, “Yeah, ‘m going to the city, need a lift?”

There wasn’t room for both of them and the driver in the cab, but Cherri volunteered to sit on the bed, tucked between crates of oranges, and Kobra decided that that would be marginally more comfortable than riding the last hour to the city with a complete stranger. Cherri slept in Kobra’s arms nearly the whole way, evidently worn out from the last day’s — and night’s — events. The driver dropped them off at an exit just outside of downtown Battery City and they walked the last half-mile to Helium Station, lugging Cherri’s trunk between them.

“So…”

“So,” Kobra parroted. “Where are you going, now?”

“Well, I missed the anniversary, but I’m still gonna go see my sister.” Cherri fidgeted with a spare wire on his prosthetic as he spoke.

“You need directions?”

He shook his head. “Silver line to Director and Analog, then the 35 to Mariposa.”

“Shiny.” Kobra scratched the back of his head. “Well. I won’t say it’s been nice but, glad I didn’t have to do this all alone.”

“Same here,” agreed Cherri.

Kobra opened his mouth to say something else, but then his train pulled up to the platform.

“That’s me,” he tried not to sound disappointed. 

“Enjoy Setsubun,” Cherri mumbled.

“Thanks.” 

Kobra reached for Cherri at the same second Cherri reached for him. They didn’t kiss, but somehow the hug they shared was more personal. Harder to let go.

“Write about me some time, Cherri Cola.”

Then Kobra turned, got on the train, and watched Cherri and the platform disappear. He found a seat and settled in for the ride home. 

Home.

Kobra thought about what home was. Why he still thought of Battery City as it, if he hadn’t lived there for years. Why Cherri had said that the city wasn’t his home, but he was just as determined to make it in time for his sister’s anniversary.

Who travelled across half the country for his sister’s anniversary? Especially if zie wouldn’t notice if he missed it? And if zie hadn’t been married for that long? If zie didn’t even live in the city? With a trunk that looked like it held his whole life.

Oh.

_ Oh. _

Koba got off the train at the next station, Cherri’s directions echoing in his mind.  _ Silver line to Director and Analog, then the 35 to Mariposa. _ He stepped off the bus forty minutes later and the last pieces clicked.

Kobra wandered up and down the rows of the cemetery until he found Cherri standing, head bowed, at a headstone dated five years and a day earlier.

“Cherri.”

The poet turned, his eyes were bright and his nose was red.

“You never said... I’m sorry I didn’t realize sooner.” Kobra took a step closer, then joined Cherri at his sister’s grave. “I’m sorry you missed it.”

For a long time, they stood side-by-side in silence. Cherri’s lips moved soundlessly and Kobra sent a prayer of his own to the Witch. Cherri broke the silence first, kissing his fingers and pressing them to the headstone, then turning to Kobra.

“Why are you here, Kobra?”

Kobra’s voice failed him. He steadied himself with a deep breath. “I— Battery City’s a big place to be alone.”

“How did you know I’d—”

“I don’t know. It just… clicked.”

Cherri nodded, he wiped his eyes. “‘M not as subtle as I think I am?”

“Not even close.”

Kobra pulled Cherri into his arms again. Cherri clung to him desperately, shivers running through his whole body despite the warmth of the day. Kobra held Cherri until he could stand on his own, but let go as soon as he started to straighten.

Cherri didn’t let him get that far, cupping Kobra’s face between his hands and stroking his cheekbones with his thumbs.

“Thanks.”

“Of course,” Kobra nodded. He leaned his forehead against Cherri’s and sighed.

“Aren’t you missing Setsubun?”

“Where are you staying tonight?” Kobra avoided Cherri’s question. 

“I… don’t know.” Tears welled in Cherri’s eyes again and Kobra couldn’t stand to see it. 

”Think you could stand to share a room again?”

Cherri pushed forward to kiss Kobra. Gently, Kobra kissed back. He kept his hands on Cherri’s waist, holding him still while Cherri brushed his hair back from his forehead and caressed his jaw.

“Come home with me, Cherri. You shouldn’t be alone.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Um <3 don't hate me i promise this is how the plot of the movie went (expect less gay)


	10. Chapter 10

Kobra let himself into his sibling’s apartment, the key he’d had on his keyring since university still fit the lock. The holly leaves on the door rustled as he opened it, and again when Cherri shut it behind himself. They kicked their shoes off and Kobra took a deep breath.

It smelled like home.

The sounds of family floated down the staircase. If Kobra concentrated, he could pick out Ghoul’s sharp syllables, Jet’s even tone, Party’s high laugh. Even a giggle that might have been from the Girl, though she’d been little more than a toddler when Kobra last saw her in person. All of that died away when he called up the stairs.

“Pois? I’m home.”

The silence stretched for a moment, then a wave of sound slammed into Kobra only a second before his sibling did, leaping down the last three steps to tackle him against the door.

“You made it!” Party cheered. “Fuck, I thought— You stopped answering my calls.”

“Yeah… Lost my phone in… Tucson?”

“Phoenix,” Cherri supplied quietly.

“You _idiot._ ” Party pulled back to smack the back of his head, then crushed him in another hug.

Before Kobra could get another word in edgewise, Ghoul elbowed Party out of the way and wrapped Kobra up in a hug that lifted him clean off his feet.

“They run on a different schedule up north or somethin’? You’re late.” Ghoul stepped onto the bottom step so that he was eye level with Kobra and planted a kiss on his cheek. “Glad you could make it.”

“Uncle Kobra!” The Girl jumped into Kobra’s arms and he caught her, pressing a kiss to her forehead before balancing her on his hip.

“Hi, baby! Oh, you’ve grown so much!”

Last, Jet clapped Kobra on the shoulder and pulled him to their chest. They, it seemed, were the first person to notice Cherri where he stood in the corner of the entranceway.

“Good to have you back, Kobes. Who’s…?”

“Oh,” Kobra laced his fingers through Cherri’s, smiling at him when he squeezed tightly. “Pois, Jet, Ghoul, Girlie, this is Cherri Cola. He, uh, he’s how I got here.”

“Well, shit,” Ghoul jumped at Cherri and gave him a hug of his own. “Welcome home, Cola.”

“Nice to meet you,” mumbled Cherri.

“Hi, Cherri Cola,” the Girl bubbled. He gave her a shy smile before she buried her face in Kobra’s neck.

Jet smiled at Cherri, too, then waved everyone up the stairs, “C’mon, _ehōmaki’_ s on the table. You hungry?”

“Starving.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Feel free to leave comments/kudos/or come chat on [tumblr!](sleevesareforlosers.tumblr.com)


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